On Mount Desert Island, Maine, winter can mean six months of isolation
and tough times, as year-round residents hunker down through the cold season.

Larry Stettner and friends argued about the need to radically rethink the concept of the soup kitchen, emphasizing true community building along with incorporating healthy and locally sourced food. The kitchen opened with unique cooking philosophy:

Today access to whole foods, local organic foods, and sustainable fisheries is more important than ever for our well-being. But, because of economic inequities, good whole food is once again hard to get. Organic foods are largely available to the wealthiest and most privileged among us. Let us break down the bastions and make natural, whole food—including organically based soups—for everyone.

In November 2009, the Common Good Soup Kitchen opened its doors to the public, offering free soup , fresh popovers (A common good staple) as well as live music and a place for locals to gather, interact, and help each other. In its first winter of operation, the Common Good served over 10,000 bowls of soup to the community.

Unfortunately, Larry passed away in 2017 but his legacy lives on with the staff and volunteers that make it their mission to make sure our community is taken care of.